The Bear Walker
by happypugfics
Summary: Skimmons AU. Jemma has always lived in her village with her 2 brothers, Fitz & Grant, growing up with fantastical stories of magic. Her brothers are more ready to believe, but Jemma is not quite convinced. Magic is ridiculous and therefore not something she concerns herself with. Bears don't talk and they certainly don't turn into people! So she thought, until she met one.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first skimmons fic. I hope that you all like it!  
The characters are not mine. All rights belong to Marvel. **

Mama had always told us fantastical stories to fill our heads with wonderful dreams before bed time. It was always a new story, a different legend, except for one which she told every so often. The stories of the bear people were ones I had heard all my life growing up. My brothers and I consumed the tales told by her like starving chicks fed by the mother bird. Perhaps once, when I was very young, I believed them, but never to the extent my siblings did. Magic was something that simply didn't exist, though the fascination with the tales remained. I believed more in what I could see with my own eyes and what I could touch. Magic was unexplainable and therefore in my mind, nothing more than a figment, a story for children. We dared hope life would be forever happy, filled with fairy tales and the chance of magic. When mother died, taken by a swift illness of winter in my seventh year, all fantastical ideas in my mind faded with her. I stopped believing in fairy tales. I stopped believing in happy endings. I stopped believing in bear people…at least, until I saw one with my own eyes.

When I was nine, I loved to play in the field just beyond our home. In the spring it was laden with the most beautiful yellow flowers found for miles in any direction from the village. You could smell their sweet aroma all through the spring and summer time wherever you were, and from the top of the bell tower you could see the fields extend for miles. I played there often, examining the flowers for small insect friends. Life fascinated me. How one creature could be so large and another so small. How they lived, what they did.

Ladybugs were my favorite, and they covered the flowers, looking like little red spots against the yellow for two weeks out of the summer. I loved the other creatures I would come upon as well. Rabbits, birds, foxes, snakes, what have you. I loved to watch them with my youngest brother Fitz. My older brother Grant had more fun chasing them and trying to catch them.

Once he had chased a fox beyond the flower field and to the river, and had our father not caught him, he would have passed the village boundary after the silly little beast. We had all been scolded quite severely at supper time, for beyond the field was a river, the boundary of our town, one that we were to never cross. Wild and dangerous things dwelled beyond the river and in the woods past, and instead of happy legends, monstrous stories filled our heads about them.

This particular day, our father had gone to town to sell his sheep's' wool, a cart filled four feet high with it. He had sheered the sheep for spring and the money from the wool would help us to buy crops for mother's garden, which we still kept up. He had left the three of us to play in the flower field, but we were not alone that day.

We often played hide-and-seek amongst the flowers and underbrush of the field and that bright spring day was no different. I was seeking, as being the middle child did sometimes have its disadvantages, and saw a rustle in a bush. Assuming it was my youngest brother who had so poorly hidden himself I went quickly to it. With a swift jerk I pulled back the bushes to uncover not my kin, but a cub. A_ bear_ cub.

It cried out, as I did, in fright and I released the bush and fell into my back. Its cries continued and in its confusion it sprang from the bush. My siblings all heard and came rushing to the source, but the cub had vanished into the flowers.

"What was that noise, Jemma?!"

"It sounded like an animal!"

I was awestruck. I did not know what to say. I_ did_ know that bears had not been seen within the town limits for a century. I sat, in stunned silence, until Fitz pestered the information from me. As I picked myself up from the ground at last, only four words left my lips, "It was a bear…"

My siblings were elated. We had never seen a bear before, in real life. All we knew of them were pictures in our legend book, and those carved into the walls of the town hall.

"I'm going to go tell father! Maybe we can see it again! Maybe we can catch it!" Grant exclaimed and dashed off into the flowers back towards the village before I could disallow it.

"We should look for the bear! I want to see it too!" Fitz said, eyes and mind alight with the tales our mother had told us years ago. He was most eager, tugging at my arm before I shook him off.  
"No, Fitz! We should leave it be! It was just a small thing," I urged, but his excitement did not wane and instead he dashed away to seek it out. I did not. I wanted nothing to do with a bear. It would only bring trouble. Our ancestors used to be known well for bear hunting before all the bears left our region. Our mother had instilled a false fantasy into us that bears were brave and noble creatures. I knew better. Or at least I thought I did.

Not but minutes later, I heard the same squeal from the animal that I had when we first laid eyes on one another. Thinking that little Fitz had actually found it again, I raced in that direction. As I neared, I stumbled over a branch in the undergrowth, and fell to the dirt. Before I could rise again, a dark haired, scruffy man walked past. I was hidden in the flowers, but I could see that he had a gun–a big one. No one in the village was allowed to have guns unless they were on the council, and I did not recognize this man. I recalled my father speaking once of poachers, those who shot animals for no purpose but to make some coin. That was against our laws, as we only killed animals if it was for food or clothes. It struck me then that he was after the bear cub. Some places in the world, their fur still went for a high price. I no longer had any doubts that was what he was after.

I heard the squeal again, and as I stood to maybe prevent him in some way from hurting such a poor babe of a creature, there was barreling towards the man the likes of which I had never seen. A full sized brownish red bear, roaring, charged into the man, knocking him to the ground and the gun flying from his hands. I immediately hid again, heart almost pounding out of my chest in fright.

Over the screams of the poacher and the growls of the animal, I heard shouting in the distance. By the time the first of my people had arrived, the poacher was without a doubt, dead in the grass, and the large bear wandering about. I shot up from hiding and ran to my father as he approached. All the men of the village had come with him and the elders had brought their guns.

Perhaps, fearing for its life, or something more, the bear turned on us. It stood so tall–taller than any human I had ever met, and unleashed a roar from deep within its belly.

The elders took aim, but something in the cry from the bear made me understand. My heart seized in my chest as I reached a hand out towards the bear, its roar, turning into words in my ears.

"No!" I had shouted, "No don't hurt her! She has a ba-"

The shots rang out so loud I had to cover my ears. As I realized what they had done, tears streamed down my face, and I did not understand it. Why did I feel so for this creature? How had I understood her cries?

A group of men rushed to where the bear had fallen, blocking my view and the views of my siblings.

"Get the children out of here!" My father shouted, and as we were being shuffled away, I heard them.

"M-my god! It's a woman!"

I knew in that moment I had not seen an ordinary bear, but I had come close to and had understood what my mother had told us was a Bear Person…and somewhere in the flower field there was now an orphan.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second chapter! I hope that you enjoy it!**

**The characters are not mine. All rights belong to Marvel.**

Things were never the same after the emergence of the Bear Person. Even eleven years later the incident was only spoken of in whispers, and never to those of us who had been children. It was obvious it had caused quite a stir in the village and amongst the people.

The elders saw fit to put up a large fence, a great barrier to protect the city should more bears show up and threaten the peace. It was several feet high and quite unsightly.

I remember the day they began construction. They started behind my father's house, forever blocking my view of the flower field. The only way to see it would be to climb high into the bell tower, and such foolery was long since disallowed—especially for a young lady.

For some reason, which I did not understand, I resented them for this fence. Perhaps it was a symbol. The field represented my childhood. It represented my siblings and I's wild abandon and playfulness of youth. The fence forever separated us from it. I was grown, and we had long since left stories and legends behind…along with that day. Still, I harbored the darkest of feelings for the wall. I thought it a frivolous waste of time and effort. If there was to be any retaliation for having killed a Bear Person, it would have already come.

I watched as everything I loved about my village began to change. With the raising of the fence came higher taxes to train a small militia to protect us. Always wanting to prove himself, to have something to do, my elder brother Grant volunteered. It wasn't all together awful. Benefits were given to those who had a family member in the militia and as Grant trained he climbed higher and higher within its ranks. Still, it was tolerable. Until it wasn't.

With the militia came more guns. The production of which was costing the town more and more. The taxes grew ever higher. With more guns came more troubles. I watched as the people of my village submitted to curfews, taxes we couldn't afford, and the most severe winter we had seen in half a century. That wasn't the worst of it. It paled in comparison to what followed in the howling winds of winter.

The crop hadn't come in as it should, with too much rain and not enough sun, there wasn't enough to go around as normal. There was little food and not just for us, but for the animals beyond the new wall as well. People grew sickly. People, children, were starving. The snow had grown too deep to receive aid from nearby villages. The militia and their families were given a greater sum of the minimal stores…but it wasn't much. The village needed to be protected. It was a blessing really, because that winter, the _wolves came_.

The wolves had taken yet another sheep from my father, which in such a winter was meat that we couldn't afford to lose. They had created significant dents in other flocks as well, but the elders saw this as the last straw. The town could tolerate to lose no more and something needed to be done.

The elders had convened, and the meeting, as well as the decision, had been swift coming. Grant and my father went with the militia out into the white storm, leaving Fitz and I at home, tending the fire and keeping warm. We waited hours in suspense, wondering if they would all return, of if the wolves had somehow managed to take them too. We never heard a shot. Perhaps only because the winds howled louder than even the wolves could manage.

When my father and brother went beyond the fence to examine the carcass that was left, ravaged and sheered free of any flesh, they found more than wolf prints in the blood laden snow.

My father had come back into the house, followed by my brother. Both looked pale, grimmer than I had seen in months. From what I could hear, they had invited some of the militia leaders in as well. Fitz and I had been ushered into the back rooms of our home, but that didn't stop us from being curious.

They spoke in hushed tones, and so I poked my head out of my bedroom door, just so, as not to draw attention. Fitz followed suit, his head coming into view just outside his own door. That's when we heart it.

"Those were _bear_ tracks. No doubt about it."

It was my father.  
_"Bear tracks?"_ Fitz mouthed to me, his eyes wide. We all remembered that day eleven years ago. None more so than me. Sometimes during the night, I could still hear the mother bears roar, calling to me. Pleading with me—with them—to find her child. To help her. I shuddered.

"It was only a matter of time, I figure. Wolves first, then the real monsters start showing up to terrorize our flocks."

"It left tracks. We can follow it, and put an end to everything before it even starts."

It was Grant this time who spoke up. Of course he would want to face the bear. He had always been headstrong.

"What about the wolves?"

"We will hunt them too. Drive them off if we can."

"Get the men ready. We're going hunting."

There were shuffled footsteps and Fitz and I quickly and quietly shut our doors, lest our eavesdropping be discovered. The wind howled and rushed into our home as the door was opened. There were more mumbled words, before I heard the door shut…leaving Fitz and I alone in the house once again.

My heart pounded in my chest. It hadn't seized so since the bear had…what? Spoken to me? It couldn't have been anything else. _Skye! Move away, Two-Feet! Where is my, Skye?!_ I shook my head, trying to release the memory from my mind. It was whirling. If there were bear tracks left in the snow, then that could only mean one thing.

I had to wait and light the lantern until I was far enough away from the village. This was a feat in and of itself. The match had barely lit, even when shielded from the whipping winds.

I had followed the large prints through the dying flower fields and to the edge of the river and even foolishly on into the woods. There might be only a slim chance that this was what I was looking for—if I even knew what that was—, and that it might in all actuality, be a _real _bear. Regardless, the moment I had stolen away from our house I knew what consequences might be in store.

I could hear the howling of the hunting hounds over the wind. The militia would not be far behind me. My pace was not fast in the thickening snow, and I began to regret my decision to leave the warmth and comfort of my home. I had taken Mama's old snow coat to protect me from the chill and the bitter winds of winter. At least I had tried to prepare. How foolish of me.

Unfortunately, my socks were not thick enough to keep out the chill from the snow, but I was too preoccupied to worry over it. For an unexplainable reason, I felt compelled to move forward in my search. I had to reach it, whatever it was, before the villagers did.

A half hour into my foolish and frozen trek, I was regretting having come at all, until I heard grunting not far off in the distance. My heart rate spiked. My lantern did not give off much light before me—just enough to see that there was a tall ridge between me and where the tracks led. I had come this far. I was determined to see it through to the end…whatever that _end_ may be.

I abandoned my light and felt my heart clench as I began to climb. Whatever had eaten the sheep was just over the rise. The tracks of blood were still very clear, and from what little I had learned from Grant, very fresh. Should it be wolves, I had brought my father's pistol, though I did not know at all how to properly fire it. Poor planning on my part, I supposed a little too late.

The snow ate through my gloves, freezing my hands to the bone and making it harder to climb, but I persevered. I had too.

I crawled through the thick blanket of snow, pulling myself up by an out-jutting rock, and finally heaved myself onto the top. I rolled, out of breath, to the safety away from the ledge, and as my head lulled to the side in temporary rest, I saw it.

By the dim light of the moon I saw its dark fur and froze as its blue eyes pierced into the darkness, scanning for me. By the quickness of its grunts and breath, I knew it felt my presence.

My heart lurched and I felt for sure the beast would be able to hear it thumping through my chest, but it made no move towards me. I saw its heated breath hit the air, standing as still as I lay. There was only one option now. I must make a stand. For my sake, and the sake of my mother, whose stories I had never believed. I was a fool. I was a child, but I must know.

As the bear turned its head to continue its lumbering journey through the woods, I stood, wobbly on cold legs and hailed the beast.

"STOP!"

_It was a mistake_.

The close to three hundred pound animal— if not more— turned so abruptly for such a large body and I watched, horror stricken, as it rose up onto its hind legs, giving a loud, deep, throaty growl in my direction.

Memories from my childhood flooded back to me, as I remembered a similar circumstance. Yet now I was the poacher, and the bear to feast on me instead. I held the pistol ready, should it charge. If I held it off long enough perhaps the hounds and the militia could make it here in time. I had but one chance.

"Did you kill our sheep?"

My voiced cracked.

It must sense my fear. How foolish I was to come here and think that it would answer me. It was a real bear and in any moment it would tear my flesh from my bones and my life would be over.

It took a step closer, still standing over seven feet tall, and I raised the gun. To my astonishment, my shaking hands pulled the trigger.

The bear gave a roar and I dropped to my knees, letting the gun fall to the snow. It had been empty. I had brought a useless weapon in my own defense, and now I was going to pay the price; however, to my continuing astonishment, the moonlight began to materialize a new form in front of me.

As the bear walked to me, it changed before my eyes. Fur fell away and melted into the snow and a much smaller frame stood before me, extending out a hand_, a human hand_, in my direction.

When I looked up, I gazed into the same bright blue eyes of the bear, but now the eyes of a young woman. She appeared my same age at least and clad in a warm bear skin poncho.

The hand I took was stained red, red with blood, and as I rose up I saw it also coated the young woman's face and intermingled with her unkempt brown locks.

My mouth hung agape. How silly I must look.

"I killed no sheep. I ate only what the wolves left behind."

"H-how do I know you aren't l-lying?!" I accused. _She spoke. _The bear—no, the woman, had spoken to me. She was slow to answer and I heard the hounds in the distance, getting ever closer.

"Bears do not lie..." She said simply, staring at me as if I should have already known the answer.

She _spoke_ to me. I could hardly believe it. A bear had stood right before me and taken the shape of a woman. It was much too much to bear and as I sagged into the snow, all I could feel were her strong arms holding me up. Then the moonlight faded and I was plunged into a cold darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's chapter 3. Please enjoy!  
(I'm also such a nerd. I used the Dovah language from Skyrim as the ancient bear language because I couldn't think of anything else. I'm so sorry haha)**

_ "__That's when he saved the bear! The great beast was so thankful that it shed its skin and gave it to the man as a sign of gratitude and friendship. The bear said,_

_ '__Take my fur as a symbol of your bravery. Wear it as a token of our friendship, so that those who look upon you know of your compassion and heroism. A __**Zein-Koz**__, a Two-Feet, has sacrificed for a __**Brud**__, a Bear, and with such love has proven himself one of us.'_

_The man took the skin of the bear and cloaked himself in it, feeling it blessed with the power of the bear. It gave him strength which the hero had never felt before. In that moment when he put on the cloak, he _became_ a bear! Then the bear spoke to him as one of his own,_

_ '__You will forever walk among us as brother. You will understand our language and share in our heritage. To us, you will be known as __**Brud Paagol**__ but to Two-Feet, you will be known as Bear Walker. Your descendants will_ _be granted the gift you have received from me for your chivalry. Now go, and do good and great things, __**Brud Paagol**__.'_

_The man left then, taking the shape of his own bear as he traveled the wilds, bringing the story of his deed wide and far. He fell in love, and had many children, and those children fell in love and had children and so on, all of whom possessed the gift given by the Great Bear. That is the story of how the Bear People came to be."_

_ "__Momma, tell it again!" Fitz pleaded, tugging at the hem of their mothers skirt as she closed the thick, leather worn book._

_ "__No, Fitz! Momma, tell us what happened! Why are all the bear people gone?" Grant asked, taking the book from their smiling mother and flipping through the pages._

_ "__Tut, tut," she chuckled, waggling her finger at her children, "That is a story for another night, now off to bed with you. Including you, little duck." She picked Fitz up into her arms, holding him softly as she took the book from Grant and set it back onto the shelf. "Your father will be home and he expects you in bed!"  
Grant followed behind, all three of us waddling into the room as mother laid Fitz down in his little bed. She tucked the sheets over him and handed him his wool duck. She did the same for Grant, handing him his wool Fox father had made. _

_ "__Goodnight my sly little fox. Your father will want you all asleep, not just tucked away." She winked at him and planted a kiss onto his forehead.  
She came over to me then, lifting me into the bed and tucked me in for the night._

_ "__Momma," I said, "Why are the bear people gone? Are they ok?"_

_She sighed, handing me my rabbit as she sat on the edge of my bed.  
"Yes, momma, are they ok?"_

_ "__Why are they gone?" _

_She was tired, but she indulged us._

_ "__Something happened, my sweet little rabbit. We, humans, were banished from contact with the bear people. Something terrible happened long ago and now we find ourselves enemies. Hush now," She kissed my forehead and stood, crossing to the door from the small bedroom we all shared._

_ "__Get some rest."_

The howling of wolves startled me awake and the realization of not knowing where I was startled me even more. I leapt into a fright, remembering my rash actions the previous night before I had passed out and of what I had found. The bear!

I looked around in the dark. The winter wind was cutting me to the bone now that I was aware of it, blatantly so, and I felt to make sure I still wore mother's coat. I did.

I could see nothing, but I had no trouble hearing the assortment of terrifying sounds the wilderness brought to my ears. I must still be out in the woods, lost, and at the mercy of winter.

Slowly, both my hands reached out in either direction, trying to find out where I was and if I was alone in the night.

My right hand found its way into something soft and long. Hair? As some of the sounds quieted, I heard one louder now over the others. Deep breathing, and as it breathed, I felt my hand rise and fall. It was not hair in my hand...it was fur. The fur of a massive animal form of a Bear Person.

We had been sleeping this way late into the night it seemed, or had simply traveled deeper into the woods where there was no light. I did not know how long I had been asleep, or how I had gotten here, or how long we had been here. I did know that I was freezing, and if I were to sneak away now, if the wolves did not get me, something else would . I would freeze to death or trip over something in the dark and fall. I would hurt myself. So I opted quickly to stay in the presence of the bear woman.

I realized my hand was still on her fur, and suddenly I became aware if the heat radiating from her giant body. I debated with myself, if I should stay where I was and persevere, or if I should actually crawl to the beast, and rest in her warmth. It did not take me long to decide, as I could hardly feel my limbs anymore, even in mothers warmest coat. Slowly, steadily, I scooted closer to the bear, not wanting to wake her, lest she be angry and decide she had no more need of me.

As I finally reached a good position next to her, I felt her shift. I thought for sure she would turn and snap at me, send me out into the blackness to be on my own, but I was wrong. I felt a mighty paw on my shoulder, pulling me down and pushing me into the depth of her warm fur.

I felt her shift again, careful not to hurt me, as I was much smaller than large animal frame. Soon we had both adjusted and I now lay quite warm between her paws and beneath her fur. I went to shut my eyes, when I stopped, seeing one piercing blue eye in the dark. It shown bright, even without any light to reflect, and for that moment I was breathless. Amazed. _So beautiful…_

She grunted and shut her eyes, going back into her slumber. With a sigh, I did the same, using one of her front paws as a pillow. My face, incidentally, snuggled into the warm fur there.

As I breathed in, it made me smile, of all things. She smelled of redwood and flowers, and of dirt and berries. Rustic, but not so much that it made my nose curl. She smelled...wonderful. Certainly not what I thought a bear ought to smell like. It reminded me some of home, and as I fell back asleep, I dreamed of the flower field in the spring.

I was lulled awake by soft lumbering from side to side. As I stirred, my hands gripped into dark brown fur dusted with black tips, thinking for a moment that it might be a blanket in my warm bed back home, before a cold gust of wind blew over me and I shivered.

With the cold, my eyes opened fully, and I discovered the reason for my swaying. I was on the back of the bear woman, who was walking along in the now brightness of day. I sat up with a gasp, almost falling over as I tried to look around and get my bearings.

"Where are we? Where are you taking me?" I asked, looking down on her massive head. I thought myself a fool, having slept through all of this. She must be taking me to her den, carrying her meal on her back to keep it fresh for later. To my dissatisfaction I got a grunt as an answer. I was afraid and in my fear it came off as anger.

I slid myself from her back, falling hard into the snow. As I struggled to get up I saw her turn around at last.

"Oh no, you stop r-right there!" Surely I was a silly thing. Yelling at a bear, "You explain to me! Where are we? Y-you change back and you tell me!" I shouted. I even scrambled to find a stick in the snow, that I held up in a threatening manner to protect myself should she charge. How foolish I was. What was a stick going to do? She was likely to skewer me on it herself and roast me over a fire. But then my eyes widened and my mouth fell open. She was changing.

It was much clearer than it had been the night before. The stick fell from my hand as I stared agape, but I couldn't control myself. It had been blurry last night with snow and wind and darkness clouding my eyes but now as she stood I could clearly see every strand of fur fall away and melt magically into the snow.

She shook the last off, fur falling from her curling, unkempt brown hair until it was all gone and she was human again...except to my embarrassment, this time she was completely naked.

I stared long enough to see her stiffen against the cold breeze before I gasped and turned away. It had not all together been a terrible sight, but still one quite unexpected.

"You're naked! Why are you naked?!" I shrieked, my face now red hot against the cold wind.

"You were cold. I couldn't let you freeze. I gave you my poncho..."

I heard the strain in her voice. Of course without clothes and her fur she must be freezing now, but she did not sound irritated with me. What a blessing because I was sure I had acted like a buffoon.

I looked down at myself, undoing my coat a little ways and sure enough, her poncho was there. My face flushed even more. I had been so exhausted I hadn't noticed her undress herself or me. My adventure must have taken quite the toll on my body to not have noticed…or felt her hands on me. I felt my nose and cheeks pinking even more. I must look like a strawberry.

"Wh-where are we going?!" I shouted, still not facing her. How could I?

"I'm taking you back to your village. They'll be looking for you. I couldn't just leave you on the ground last night. The wolves would have gotten you before your people made it up the ridge...may I change now?"

I heard the strain in her words as she tried not to let her teeth clatter about. If I was still cold, she must be freezing to the bone, and I sighed. She had answered me and where I had been so rude as to demand for her, she had humored me with patience.

"Y-yes of course. I'm sorry..." I sighed and turned around, eyes wide again as I caught the last of her fur cover her slim legs and again a great bear stood before me.

Everything my village had said about bears over the last several years did not seem to match up. She was helping me. She did not want to hurt me. She did not seem a great and terrible beast out for blood. She was more and more living up to the stories my mother had told. Bears were brave. Bears were chivalrous. Bears were kind. For a moment since my childhood, I let belief slip back into my mind…but only for a moment. I still did not know her name.


	4. Chapter 4

The trek back to my village was quiet. I had so many questions, but my current companion was a bear, and as such, had no means of which to answer them. I doubted I would get to spend much time with the strange woman in her human form. It was much too cold for her to be out and about in the nude. Clearly the bear fur was the best option in this instance. I was even jealous of it, and I now had on several layers of clothes.

Still, the wind bit into me like the wolves would have the previous night, had she not saved me. Is that what she had done? Yes, I supposed so. She had saved me. She had saved me and yet I was treating her so poorly, while she continued to humor me with patience and answers. It's a wonder she hadn't left me in the snow.

As I clung to her fur, trying my best to keep warm as the wind whipped this way and then the next, stinging my face, cheeks red from it, I felt great warmth radiating out from her body. I realized I had felt it in the night, asleep in the cave once I had tucked away underneath her. Was it magic, or were all bears so naturally warm, even in the dead of winter? I decided I might as well take advantage again, as the chattering of my teeth was sure to be driving her mad by now.

I nuzzled my face into her dark brown fur, trying to keep it out of the wind. I felt the warmth there and it made me smile. I could also smell the berries again, as well as the hot scent of bark and grass. I clung to her then, practically lying on her large back, trying to get closer to the warmth. This must have irked her for I received a grunt, and she shook slightly. I figured I must be holding onto her fur too tightly, and so I loosened my grip. The disgruntled grunting stopped as we lumbered on through the snow.

I also had no idea where we were, and found myself easily trusting her sense of direction. If she was taking me back to my village, I knew at least we would need to make our way down the large ridge and out of the woods and over the river. It wouldn't be safe for her to cross further than that into our territory, not after what had happened the night before.

It occurred to me then that perhaps she didn't know what had gone on in the village. As far as she must know, she had come upon a recent wolf kill, which had been abandoned, or stripped as much as they had wanted to eat. She had been covered in blood, so she must have been eating some of it. During her brief time in human form, the girl had told her she had only taken what the wolves had left behind. That's why they had found bear paws by the carcass. She was eating their leftovers. The wolves had done the real damage, she was just fending for herself. The village didn't know that either. She didn't know that the militia had gone out hunting for a bear, or that they had sent the hounds out as well. They would probably be out in the woods searching closer to the village boarders in case the bear showed back up.

I suddenly felt us going down a steep incline, and I came back from my thoughts. It had been different in the dark, but I could hear the sound of water over the roaring wind, and could now see a river just beyond the thinning of the trees below. If she got too close she could be spotted!

"Wait! Wait!" I sat up swiftly, sliding off of the bear and stumbled into the thick snow. I tumbled down a foot or two before I managed to regain my footing. My hood had fallen off, now exposing most of my head to the winter wind. I threw up my glove covered hands in front of her in a gesture for her to stop. "Stop, you shouldn't come any farther," I insisted through chattering teeth. The wind whipped my auburn hair around my face, which I tried to pull away with one of my hands, while keeping my other up to stop her.

She did not seem rather intent to do so, and lumbered forward until her great wet nose was just a few inches from my face. I could see her hot breath in the cold air. It smelled of raw meat and dirt. Her head was quite larger than mine, several sizes bigger actually, and seeing her so up close was frightening. It sent my heart into a frenzy…but my cheeks were already red from the chill. What was the harm? I noticed again, for a second time, her bright blue eyes, and how they shown so even in the daylight.

"It's not safe for you to come any closer to the village!" I explained quickly, now fumbling with my hood to get it back up over my head. The bear snorted then, and I felt the heat of it on my face. It was as if to say, she didn't heed her advice. The bear grunted again, and started to continue to lumber down the ledge.

"Hey! Stop! I'm being serious, you know?!" I held my arms out again and pressed against her tall shoulder, my head right beside hers. She took a few more steps forward, making me slide backwards in the snow, before she stopped again, and gazed at me with her shimmering eyes. She looked rather annoyed now. I suppose she had a right to be, I was rather a mess at the moment…and had been since stumbling blindly into the woods.

"You don't understand," I began, taking a step back after making sure that she would not attempt to continue forward again. "You can't come any closer to the village. It isn't safe for you." I explained, motioning towards the edge of the woods.

"The militia will see you and they will kill you," I was cut off sharply when she opened her mouth, black lips curling back just enough to expose her white teeth and let out a terrible growl. It made my body tremble and it echoed through the trees. I had upset her. But of course. Anyone would be upset if they had just been told they would be killed on site. It was understandable.

"Yes, I know. It is quite the predicament, but my village thinks that _you_ killed the sheep," I tried to soothe her, but she was having none of it. She shoved forward, now, I was certain, to get across the river. To what? To challenge them? It was poor planning on her part and I couldn't let her risk her life that way. I ran at her again, shoving all of my weight against hers to keep her from going further down the slope. It barely seemed to make a difference.

"Please! You saved my life! Stop, let me save yours!" I shouted. I fell back into the snow when I received her thundering reply.

A ferocious roar rang in my ears, but that is not what stunned me. It was her words that left me in awe. _I did not kill those sheep! _

I gazed up at her, wide eyed and mouth agape with wonder and confusion. The situation was very different and yet the experience was the same. It was happening again as it had when I was but a child. I had understood her, even as she was a bear.

"I…I know that," I said quickly, stumbling to stand in the snow and regain my bearings, "but my village does not." I stood fast in my place between her and the edge of the woods.  
"You cannot go any farther," It was not a request this time, but a command. She was bound determined to be foolish, and I was just as determined to keep her from it. I was so adamant about my argument that I missed the rather blank expression on her face. If I didn't know any better, and I didn't, I would think she was confused.

I stopped and stood silently, giving her a moment and trying to assess whatever it was that she was thinking. There was no way I would be able to stop her if she charged, but she remained still in front of me.  
"What is it?"

_You understood me._ A grunt came out, but I heard words. Yes, it did seem rather odd to me, but I was going to use it to my advantage to keep her from making an irreversible mistake.

"Well…yes. You're not the first one I have—"

_You've understood other bears?_ She interrupted, this time taking a step back. She sat her large form down against a tree, and looked patiently at me, waiting for my reply. The wind was dying down, leaving the cold to settle over what exposed skin I had, but she didn't seem to mind. She was practically a self-sufficient furnace.

"Yes, once when I was a little girl, a bear came close to the village," My teeth began to chatter again and to my surprise she raised a great paw and motioned for me to come closer to her. Wanting to be warm, I quickly did and leaned against her fur. I yelped in surprise as her two great arms wrapped around my body, pulling me in. She let me settle, and I felt the vibrations of her breathing coming through the back of my clothes.

"Well…a poacher had followed the bear," I felt a low growl behind me and her giant paws clung to my body against the wind, "but the bear was searching for her cub. The poacher wanted the cub, you see, and the mother bear attacked and killed him. My village elders came with guns and…" I stopped, unsure of how to proceed. I hadn't thought about the story in so long.

"Before they fired…I-I heard the bear shout. She said that she was looking for her child. No one else understood. I tried to tell them, but it was…it was already too late," I looked down, my face hiding in the fur of one of her great arms. I felt ashamed for not having done more that day, but I had been a small girl. "I do remember the bear was looking for 'her Skye'. I didn't know what that meant. I just assumed it was the bear cub I had seen earlier that day hid—"

_Hiding in the bushes…_

I froze, quite literally then and my head shot around to look at her. She was still as well, her large face looking down on me with her bright eyes. Her ears were laid back and she had stilled her breath.

"How…how do you know that?" I had a guess. The image was as clear in my mind as the day it had occurred. The little bear, as frightened as it was, had dark brown fur flaked with black patches…but that could have been any bear. No, the part I remembered now was her eyes. They had been as blue as the sky, and full of fear.

She did not answer, and instead let me come to the conclusion myself, as I pulled away from her arms and up to face her, "it was you! _You_ are the bear cub from the flower field. You're the one I found in the bushes!" My village had killed her mother. My village had made her an orphan and I had been unable to stop it. Even after all of this, she had saved me from the cold and from the wolves during the night in my foolish journey.

She stood up again then and began to lumber around in the opposite direction. _You should get going. Your family will be worried about you, being out here all alone in the woods with such dangerous creatures like me. _

I heard her growl, and her words bit like the wind. For some reason it made me feel that the bite of the wolves would be more preferable.  
"Thank you for saving me!" I shouted to her, against the wind, hoping she would hear me. The bear did not stop, so I took another risk.

"SKYE!"

Her head shot around and I shivered as her eyes pierced through mine. _Go home. Do not venture into the woods again. _It was a warning. One I knew that I would be unable to heed. Now that I had met her, I couldn't help feeling that we would meet again. I watched her bound up and over the ridge, out of sight, leaving me alone in the wind and snow. I sighed and turned, looking towards the edge of the trees and the river.

As I crossed the river, and made my way through the empty field where so many yellow flowers had once bloomed, I could see more of the militia manning the wall. Those at the gate had guns, and now as I approached, I could hear dogs barking in the distance. I would have a lot of explaining to do, and I did not look forward to it.


End file.
